Town and Resident Clash over Anti-Gun Law Banner

Conflicts involving protest signs and zoning rules seem to be a growinggenre of First Amendment battles.

In the latest example, a small town in western New York and a resident are clashing over his banner protesting the state’s new gun law.

Earlier this year, E. Scott Zawierucha, who lives in Hamburg, N.Y., hung the sign on a picket fence facing the town’s main strip, making it quite clear what he thinks about New York’s SAFE Act. That’s the package of stricter gun restrictions approved last year. “NY IS NOT S.A.F.E.!! STOP CUOMO – PRESERVE YOUR RIGHTS!!” the banner says.

Last month, the Buffalo News reports, the man received a summons citing a town code that states: “No images or language shall be painted, affixed to the outward side of any fence or directed at neighboring properties for any reason.”

The Buffalo News says Mr. Zawierucha’s sign is far from the only one displayed in the Erie County town. But after refusing to take it down, he’s appearing in local court on Friday to defend himself against the summons, according to the paper.

“I am not taking this down. I have been targeted,” he told the Buffalo News. “I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from people.” Law Blog has reached out to Mr. Zawierucha for comment.

The town’s chief code enforcement officer, Kurt Allen, who wasn’t immediately available for comment, reportedly told Hamburg’s town board last month that the issue wasn’t political or ideological, but that the problem with the banner is that it’s hanging on a fence in violation of the zoning code.

“It in no way causes a problem for anyone,” Mr. Zawierucha said in his interview with the paper. “It’s a matter of the First Amendment.”

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